Freakwater, Good for Nothing

Freakwater are principally Catherine Ann Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean. Their 1999 album End Time is pretty much flawless, and its lead-off track 'Good for Nothing' is, I believe, one of the finest songs ever written (at any rate, it's a favorite of mine). They rule, and this song in particular deserves to be very widely heard and known, but until now it hasn't been available anywhere on youtube. I hereby fill that gap: I've been good, and I've been good for nothing I had it bad for something seems like a long time ago And the dirt beneath my nails is not from some field of flowers Sown by the April showers and what they may or may not bring I always get lucky in the spring I have been good for nothing Loose lips are bound to sink ships And many times I've watched my own self drown Clinging fast to my lucidity Like a life raft that's always sinking down One big drink and then another Pull my head down far beneath the waves Where I'm living like a mermaid decked in stolen jewels From the drowning men I've saved I've been good, and I've been good for nothing I had it bad for something seems like a long time ago And the dirt beneath my nails is not from some field of flowers Sown by the April showers and what they may or may not bring I always get lucky in the spring I have been good for nothing Black crows break and scatter wide The buckshot blast soaring out of sight Clouds of heat and dust that rise up from the ground On a slow and gasping flight I'm bound to think about my brother When August sucks the colors from the air And Kudzu vines make tangled monsters Of the trees where we first learned to play fair Forgive and forget are words that never slid across my tongue Revenge like a fleeting Christmas morning I knew when I was young Put the toys back in their boxes Let me tear the ribbons off them just once more Inside my little box of bones a ray of light shines Where I'm slowly keeping score I've been good, and I've been good for nothing I had it bad for something seems like a long time ago And the dirt beneath my nails is not From some field of flowers Sung by the April showers and what they may or may not bring I always get lucky in the spring I have been good for nothing I have been good for nothing